The International Service for Peace (SIPAZ) is a coalition of 50 organizations from the Americas and Europe who have a long history of work in the areas of peace, human rights and the peaceful transformation of conflicts. SIPAZ is a program of international observation that had its beginning in 1995, following the Zapatista uprising in 1994. It was formed to monitor the conflict in Chiapas, México. Today SIPAZ supports the search for nonviolent solutions that contribute to the construction of a just peace through building tolerance and dialogue among the actors in Chiapas as well as, increasingly, in other areas in México (Oaxaca and Guerrero). At the same time, SIPAZ serves as a bridge for communication and the sharing of information and experiences among organizations and networks that work toward the building of a just and lasting peace at a local, national, regional and international level.
SIPAZ URGENT ACTION: IMPRISONMENT AND REPRESSION OF THE CAMPESINOS OF THE PETATLÁN SIERRA IN GUERRERO
July 15, 2005
 SIPAZ is concerned over the detention and imprisonment of the campesino ecologist
Felipe Arreaga, who has been in prison since November 3, 2004, on charges of homicide. The case against him is soon to be brought before a judge. Felipe Arreaga is a recognized environmental activist of the Petatlán Sierra in the state of Guerrero, who, together with other campesino ecologists has struggled for decades to bring an end to the uncontrolled exploitation of the wood in their region.
Felipe was instrumental in the creation of the Organization of Campesino Ecologists of the Petatlán Sierra and Coyuca of Catalán, A.C. (OCESP) in 1998 and, more recently, the Organization of Women Ecologists of the Petatlán Sierra (OMESP), coordinated by Celsa Valdovinos, his spouse.
On February 22, 1998, the campesino ecologists of OCESP, led by Felipe Arreaga, Rodolfo Montiel and Celso Figueroa, carried out the well-known “lumber strike,” in which they blocked all of the access routes to the Sierra, impeding the passage of trucks illegally transporting cut wood. This action affected the economic interests of Bernadino Bautista Valle (renowned cacique of the region) who, for years has been accused by the campesinos of illegally extracting lumber, and, since 1995, has managed the lumber use agreement signed by Governor Rubén Figueroa Alcocer and the multinational company “Boise Cascade.”
The actions of the OCESP brought about Boise Cascade’s withdrawal from the region in mid-1998, claiming “difficult business circumstances,” and an end to the illegal extraction of wood in the municipality of Petatlán, Guerrero.
Felipe Arreaga is currently being held in the prison of Zihuatanejo (Guerrero), accused of having participated in the murder of Abel Bautista Guillén, (son of the cacique, Bernardino Bautista) on May 30th, 1998. Another 14 campesinos from OCESP have arrest warrants for the same crime.
The “Tlachinollan” Center for Human Rights, A.C. has assumed the legal defense of the case and has denounced the multiple irregularities that have occurred in the penal process. First, the murder occurred in 1998 and the initial investigations were not begun until 2000, and from there, an arrest warrant was not issued until 2004. The principal witness to the charges against Felipe Arreaga admitted before the judge that Bernardino Bautista Valle and a police officer from the State’s Attorney’s Office of Guerrero coerced him into making his statement.
In addition, one of the accused who was allegedly identified by two witnesses had died in 1996 and another was a child at the time of the crime. More than seven witnesses confirm that Felipe Arreaga was seen in the town “Las Mesas” on the day of the alleged murder.
There is also a video supporting these testimonies and validating Felipe Arreaga’s innocence given that he was in another town on the day of the homicide.
On March 2, 2005, Amnesty International announced that Felipe Arreaga is a “prisoner of conscience.” The repression of the campesino ecologists and, more specifically, against the leaders who participated in the “lumber strike” is not new. In 1999, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera were detained by the army and tortured. They were sentenced on false charges of drugs and weapons possession. They were released in 2001 thanks to national and international pressure, but their innocence was never recognized, nor were those responsible for their torture and detention ever brought to justice. The case is before the InterAmerican Commission of Human Rights.
Due to procedural irregularities and the acts of repression against the campesino ecologists, we are deeply concerned about the situation of Felipe Arreaga, whose detention is driven by political motives, in retaliation for all of his consciousness-raising work about the environment.
The threats against the campesino ecologists have continued. On May 19, 2005, Albertano Peñaloza Domínguez (driving force in the environmental movement) and his family were ambushed and two of his children, 9 and 19 years old, were killed. In addition, Albertano and two of his other children, 15 and 18 years old, were wounded.
The campesino ecologist Albertano Peñaloza Domínguez is in a very vulnerable situation. In addition to living with the very real fear that the attempts against his life may be repeated, Albertano has an arrest warrant against him for the same falsified case which placed Felipe Arreaga in prison.
The murders, threats and imprisonments form part of the daily life of the men and women who fight to defend the forests, the water and the right to a healthy environment for all.
WE ASK that you send appeals to the designated authorities with the following REQUESTS:
- Immediate and unconditional release of Felipe Arreaga, guaranteeing his safety and that
of his family.
- Suspension of the arrest warrants against the 14 members of the OCESP, protecting them, their
family members and the witnesses to their case.
- An independent and impartial revision of the investigation undertaken by the judicial
police and the prosecutors, in order to bring to justice those responsible for the
falsification of evidence and the fabrication of the case against Felipe Arreaga, to
make public the investigation and to compensate Felipe Arreaga for the entire
unfounded criminal process.
- Request for an exhaustive and impartial investigation into the murder of Abel Bautista
Guillén in 1998.
- An end to the repression and threats against the campesino ecologists of the Petatlán Sierra.
- The creation of a Special Committee to carry out an impartial and exhaustive investigation
into the attack on Albertano Peñaloza and the murder of his two children. Justice for the
those responsible for the crimes, both for those who carried them out and for the architects
behind them.
Sample Letter:
To the appropriate authorities,
We are concerned and dismayed by the repression and constant threats which the campesino ecologists suffer in the Petatlán Sierra in Guerrero. Two years ago it was the unjust incarceration of Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, who were detained and tortured by the army and forced to confess to the possession of illegal drugs and arms.
There has been national and international recognition of the ecological struggle of the Organization of the Campesino Ecologists of the Petatlán Sierra and the murders and imprisonments they’ve suffered since 1998.
We are currently profoundly worried about the incarceration of Felipe Arreaga, who has been in prison since November of 2004, as a result of a penal process in which multiple irregularities have occurred. These irregularities reveal that the case was fabricated in order to stop the work of the environmental movement, which has impacted the economic interests of those involved in the clandestine extraction of lumber.
We are aware of the evidence provided by witnesses and on video which show that Felipe Arreaga was in another town on the day of the alleged murder, getting medical attention for a back problem.
Likewise, we are concerned about the ambush on Albertano Peñaloza and his family in front of his house in Banco Nuevo on May 19, 2005, in which his sons, Abatuel and Armando, 9 and 19 years old respectively, died. Albertano suffered serious injuries, while his son, Isaac, 18 years old, is still recovering from the damage done to his lungs and right leg by the bullets.
We bemoan the climate of impunity and unsafety experienced by the campesinos ecologists of the Petatlán Sierra in the state of Guerrero and WE SEEK the following from the appropriate authorities:
- The immediate and unconditional release of Felipe Arreaga, guaranteeing his safety
and that of his family.
- Suspension of the arrest warrants against the 14 members of the OCESP, protecting
them, their family members and the witnesses to their case.
- An independent and impartial revision of the investigation undertaken by the judicial
police and the prosecutors, in order to bring to justice those responsible for the
falsification of evidence and the fabrication of the case against Felipe Arreaga, to
make public the investigation and to compensate Felipe Arreaga for the entire
unfounded criminal process.
- Request for an exhaustive and impartial investigation into the murder of Abel
Bautista Guillén in 1998.
- An end to the repression and threats against the campesino ecologists of the Sierra of
Petatlán.
- The creation of a Special Committee to carry out an impartial and exhaustive
investigation into the attack on Albertano Peñaloza and the murder of his two
children. Justice for the those responsible for the crimes, both for those who carried
them out and for the architects behind them.
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SEND LETTERS TO:
Lic. C. Raúl Calvo Sánchez
Presidente del Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Estado de Guerrero
Plaza Cívica, Primero Congreso de Anahuac, Colonia Centro
Chilpancingo, Guerrero, C.P. 39000
Fax: + 52 74747 24191
Ricardo Salinas Sandoval
Juez Primero de Primera Instancia del Ramo Penal
Paseo de los Deportes sin número, Colonia Deportiva, C.P. 40880,
Zihuatanejo, Guerrero
Fax: +52 755 55 423 27
Diputado Rómulo Reza Hurtado,
Presidente de la Comisión Ordinaria De Derechos Humanos.
Fax: + 52 747 47 13 800
COPY TO :
SIPAZ
Avenida Chilón #8, El Cerrillo
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, CP 29220
Fax: (+52.967) 63-160-55
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